About 6 or 7 years ago, I found a little aluminum, stovetop Italian espresso pot in World Market and immediately knew I had to have it! It's tiny, but it makes THE BEST espresso and I think it may be fairly common in Italy for homes to have these. I don't know. (Sara?) Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures and see if any of you have one or have used one. It's been one of those months where I've used mine a lot, needing afternoon caffeine almost daily, but not wanting to make plain old coffee.
The water goes in the pot under this little strainer...
The fine espresso grounds get tamped down as tight as they can in the little strainer cup.
And the top part of the pot is screwed on, creating one little unit about 8 inches tall from the top of the knob to the counter.
The water in the bottom comes to a boil and the pressure pushes it up through the screen, through a little spout into the top part of the pot...
See? The whole house smells like espresso, now! This is about a 4 shot serving, which is what I use in my...
...Vat O'Coffee! I heat the milk/cream/sugar in a saucepan on the stove while the espresso is being made, frothing the cream with a regular old wire wisk and a lot of elbow action. But it's worth it! No fancy froth designs, but to me it's still beautiful...
Voila!
3 comments:
Have used the coffee maker and agree on the quality; but must admit that I find putting the milk in the mug and then in the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds gives me the warm milk and with enough froth without the hassle OR dirty pan.
You are absolutely correct! EVERY house in Italy has one - this is how everyone makes their coffee at home, or at least their one cup before they go to the corner bar (a "bar" in Italy is a place to get espresso and pastries). For the 5 months we lived in Europe, this is how we made our coffee every single morning. It is also the reason I thought I was pregant about 4 weeks in - 3 cups of this stuff in the morning will rot your stomach in no time. Or in 4 weeks.
I neeeeed this. I'll have my dad keep an eye out for me. And if you make it this way to visit, wrap this in the most protective thing you can so we can make this together. Y U M !!!!
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